{"id":784137,"date":"2026-03-01T10:14:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784137\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T10:14:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:14:24","slug":"cowboys-made-wise-decision-to-use-second-round-tender-on-t-j-bass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/784137\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys made wise decision to use second-round tender on T.J. Bass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Feb. 28, 2026, 11:25 a.m. CT<\/p>\n

The Dallas Cowboys<\/a> are set to have another busy offseason, with 21 free agents coming out of the 2025 season. While their most notable free agents are wide receiver George Pickens and kicker Brandon Aubrey, there are other key players who the Cowboys would like to keep.<\/p>\n

And while the organization has re-signed RB Javonte Williams, used the franchise tag on Pickens<\/a>, and plans to use a tender on the restricted free-agent Aubrey, keeping guard T.J. Bass is a priority as well. Also restricted, the Cowboys are expected to place the second-round tender on Bass ahead of free agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The second-round tender<\/a> gives the Cowboys options with Bass. Dallas can keep him for a cost of $5.8 million for the 2026 season, match any offer Bass gets from another team, or they can trade him away for as much as a second-round pick if they choose not to match a contract agreed to with another franchise. The team can also work out an extension with Bass, if they prefer.<\/p>\n

It might seem like a hefty cost for a backup offensive lineman, but Bass has started 10 games for the Cowboys over the last three years and has experience at both guard spots, as well as center. The undrafted free agent has played well<\/a> when called upon, so it wouldn\u2019t be a shock to see another team try to poach Bass from the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good problem for Dallas. They have a valuable player, who isn\u2019t starter at a place where the NFL constantly needs talent. They aren\u2019t enough quality offensive linemen in the league, and the Cowboys have a surplus, which is good if any injury should arise.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Bass isn’t a starter with the Cowboys, but he is a starting caliber player. If he did leave, the Cowboys would then have Brock Hoffman as their most valuable interior offensive lineman. Hoffman is a restricted free agent as well, but the Cowboys are expected to keep him.<\/p>\n

However, the Cowboys also don\u2019t have any Day 2 draft picks<\/a>, so if they do get an offer for Bass, they would have to seriously consider trading him. The team needs to improve on defense and dealing Bass could get them a valuable second-round selection to help the rebuilding process.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a smart move for the Cowboys to tender Bass, and if another team does come sniffing, the organization will have to make a difficult decision. Either way, Bass is paying dividends for the Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Pickens and Aubrey have gotten most of the attention thus far this offseason, but T.J. Bass will play a big part in the Cowboys’ 2026 season as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Follow\u00a0Cowboys Wire on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0to join in on the conversation with fellow\u00a0fans!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Feb. 28, 2026, 11:25 a.m. CT The Dallas Cowboys are set to have another busy offseason, with 21…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":784138,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[95878,230,229,257,2461,7,6,96666,96667,95882,99261,96253,96671,95896,95888,95895,95906,95883,95881],"class_list":{"0":"post-784137","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-accessfree","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-dallascowboys","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sstssportsnflcowboys","16":"tag-sstsncowboys","17":"tag-tagamerican-football","18":"tag-tagbrandon-aubrey","19":"tag-taggeorge-pickens","20":"tag-tagjavonte-williams","21":"tag-tagnational-sports","22":"tag-tagnfl","23":"tag-tagnfl-hub","24":"tag-tagoverall-positive","25":"tag-tagsports-news","26":"tag-typestory"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116153396057582611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/784138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}